rookie mistake

[craig_08]

I have been running my nano for about 4 months now and recently added my first corals other than my ricordea I have had for a while now. I added a frogspawn, two more ricordea, zooanthids, a candy cane, GSP, and xenia. I know this is a lot to add at one time but they were all really tiny frags so I thought that it would be ok. I checked my levels at the end of the week and at first all seemed well. Ammonia, Nitrites both at zero, Nitrates at 1ppm, alk at 11, pH at 8.0. The pH was on the brink of being low and the alk at the brink of being high but they were in the right range so I thought nothing of it. I then checked calcium and it was at an amazing low of 190! I started to freak since I thought weekly water changes would rid the need to dose calcium and ran to the store to get calcium additive. I dosed calcium a bit more than reccommended since it was so low. The pH was low so I thought dosing calcium at 8.6 pH would actually help. I checked the levels again the next day and calc was up to 250 (reasonable jump) but my pH had dropped to 7.5! I know I don't understand the balance between alk-calc-pH but is that normal? For the past days I have been dosing like crazy trying to bring the levels up to no avail. HELP. I am now at 310 calc, and 7.7 pH. This mistake slaughtered my frogspawn but all the others have bounced back and are looking fine. The GSP was the only other one that seemed to even notice.

 

[aarone]

I started to freak since I thought weekly water changes would rid the need to dose calcium
Why would that rid the need to dose calcium? You are taking it out of the tank. Anyways...What supplement are you dosing calcium with?
aaron

 

[imo]

I'm not a advanced aquarist, but if you dose calcium you still need to be doseing for alkalinity. If calcium is just dosed your PH will go low and if you just dose for PH your calcium will go low. You need to dose for both and find the correct dosing combo that keeps both levels where they should be. Go buy a 2 part system like B-Ionic. You dose both parts (alkilinity and calcium) each day and adjust the the dosage accordingly to get your correct readings. It's been working great for me.

 

[craig_08]

Water changes adds calcium back to the tank via the salt mix. I am now dosing with Seachem Reef Advantage Calcium. My alkalinity is fine. I have been testing for that and it is a bit high so why would I dose it. I do normally dose it as needed though.

 

[imo]

Just doing water changes is not going to keep your calcium levels up. I don't know of any salt mix that will keep your calcium at the proper level (400-450). If that were the case there would be no need for additives. After you add new corals, each coral obsorbs your tanks calcium at it's own rate requiring you to monitor it closely after new additions. Alkilinity, PH and Calcium are closely tied together. I'm not a chemist and am not very good at explaining this area of reefkeeping. I would suggest asking the Reef Forum to get more responses from some of the more experienced reefers. Do a little reading here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/calcalkmar.htm
And perhaps read some of the frequently asked questions.

 

[beaslbob]

craig
Not an expert here. My tank is still establishing but ph is 8.4 and calc is 360. I use straight tap water, a layer of curshed coral over sand, and run water through Curshed coral in my refugium.
Have you tried adding a very little amount of baking soda when you add the calc? that may add the buffering to keep the ph up.
I agree that water changes will not correct the "problem".

 

[overanalyzer]

I'd check out the post entitled dripping kalk in the reef section.
Water changes keeps your calcium level stable - it does not increase your calcium.
I'd also recommend reading hte calcium section i nanthony calfo's coral propogation book. He describes it in a very easy fashion.
You also need to watch the frogspawn that will send out sweeper tenticles and sting surrounding corals. Otherwise your additions seem pretty cool!

 

[craig_08]

I am a newbie at reefkeeping but am a stickler for researching my new additions. I had my frogspawn high in the tank and not particularly close to anything. It would have been fine but the frogspawn was a victim to my lack of experience and research. It now appears my prize ricordea will be the next victim. It is shriveled and has a bubble of slime around part of it. The "dead" frogspawn has a big bubble of slime over the top of the skeleton now that is getting bigger and bigger. This coral is dead right? Should I remove it or leave it in to see if it comes back. It was my favorite and I would hate to throw it out. What about the ricordea. Is it done for as well? My pH still has not stabalized. I did a two gallon water change (in a 10 gal) today with good levels but it didnt help the tank that much. I feel so frustrated. I am not used to not being able to problem solve my way out of things.

 

[craig_08]

Oh by the way, thanks for all the replies. Sorry for being such a dummy. Maybe I should have stuck to FO. Oh and by the way, should I get the Coral Propogation book when I go hear Anthony Calfo speak in a few weeks. I don't really know much about him but apparenly he has a pretty good book.

 

[overanalyzer]

craig can you post some pics of th3 frogspawn? You might be able to salvage some of it. Take it out in a spereate bucket and scrub the bubble of slime offgently with a toothbrush. Try to see if there is any tisues - gently brush around that area to remove some of the slime and algea there. Gentle re-introduce it into your tank (lower lights and don't shock it). Be patient and see what happens.
Ricrodea are pretty tough. I had some bleach out and I thought they had died because I moved them from teh bottom to right below the lights - so I moved the rock into another tank for a cycle and all the reicrodea have come back and lived through the cycle. I am very amazed!!
Good luck.

 

[overanalyzer]

Originally posted by Craig_08
Oh by the way, thanks for all the replies. Sorry for being such a dummy. Maybe I should have stuck to FO. Oh and by the way, should I get the Coral Propogation book when I go hear Anthony Calfo speak in a few weeks. I don't really know much about him but apparenly he has a pretty good book.
The coral prop book is awesome and it gives a lot of advice on how to properly setup reeftanks so I'd say yes!! He loads it down with tons of information and it is an easy and fun read!! I'd get it and have him sign it! From what I've heard he is an awesome speaker!